Why is countering the culture important?
The Smooth People Story
By Toby Cann
It is the 11th of September, it is 7.55pm, and I am swaying on the half-full dance floor of The Bird, a popular Northbridge bar that has become a staple of my life over the last month or so. A glare of blinding iridescence reflects upon the venue's glittery disco ball, which dangles above the growing crowd of people who have milled toward the stage in anticipation for the impending performance. The first band on tonight is a No Wave outfit titled Smooth People, an ambitious group who have been gaining a reputation for their challenging, intense performances that are equally defined by improvisation and incoherence.
I might be going out on a limb here, but I think Smooth People is doing something deeply important, and I would argue that their success is tied to the success of art in Perth as a whole. Sounds hyperbolic I know, but allow me to paint this picture, and I think we may just come to a mutual understanding.
Smooth People's vocalist Toby Budworth & guitarist Johnny Lakatos. Toby Cann
Smooth People's Drummer Jess Rowe. Toby Cann
But first of all...
Who are Smooth People?
"Johnny...
Rock."
The band consists of Toby Budworth on vocals, Johnny Lakatos on guitar, Jess Rowe on drums, and a recent addition of Cameron Hislop on bass. To put it simply, Smooth People aren’t like other Perth bands. They don’t use social media to promote themselves, they don’t cover popular songs to turn heads, and they aren’t interested in fawning for the audience's attention. Their presence in the public eye relies solely on word of mouth and they never outwardly claim to have a role in countering the contemporary culture of Perth music.
Smooth People's abrasive style on full display at The Seasonal Brewing co. Toby Cann
Let's zoom out to...
The Perth music scene
Local band Livewire rocking out at the Indian Ocean Hotel. Sylvia Blakeway
In recent years the cosy streets of Perth suburbia have fostered a music scene drawn predominantly from the state's cruisy surfer culture. In the process of building this story, I asked several people who frequently went to local gigs whether they agreed with the notion that the Perth music scene is oversaturated with indie, “Spacey Jane esq” rock. The answer was unilaterally “yes”.
As music journalist Barry Divola puts it, “I have noticed what I call the poodle mullet and wispy moustache type of look is happening across a lot of bands these days, especially bands in their early 20s. That sound of a little funky, kind of smooth, soft inoffensive pop rock is getting really big. I wonder if it has a lot to do with triple J and what they’re putting on rotation. It has been a trend for the last five years at least.”
“If a band has that sound and has that look it makes it a lot easier for programs to play it. Bands that sound like that will get played, so more bands are going to want to sound like that to get played. Music cycles, before this bands wanted to sound like the Arctic Monkeys, and before that they wanted to sound like The Strokes, soon they’ll want to sound like something else,” says Divola.
Smooth People completely reject every mainstream convention that has led to Perth’s musical reputation. They operate, as Rowe puts it, “in a stream of consciousness mindset”.
“The indie rock scene in Perth kind of stagnates as so many bands are trying to be the next Spacey Jane, trying to do the same covers as everyone else. At least personally for me when you go to see these bands it's hard to differentiate the soul between all of them,” Rowe says.
Fremantle born indie band Spacey Jane is generally perceived as a trailblazer of the contemporary Perth sound. Cole Barash
A freelance journalist who has written for Rolling Stone Magazine and The Sydney Morning Herald, Barry Divola has always had a passion for music. News Corp Australia
What makes Smooth People special?
The band effortlessly mingles sporadic improv into the intro of their original song, Toxic Radio. Toby Cann
Johnny gets creative and Toby gets to the floor. Toby Cann
Smooth People show off more of their improv. Toby Cann
An exhilarating, if manic ending to an explosive performance. Toby Cann
Back at The Bird, the band takes to the stage. For their thirty-minute set they are wild, intense and enigmatic. It never feels like this energy is a planned aspect of the performance, its naturalness is intoxicating. The vocals have little melodic beauty, but Budworth’s anguished screams and rasped grumbles are unlike any local sound I have heard. Rowe’s drumming is tribal and intense, a constant source of rhythmic slaughter that keeps me hooked even when nothing else is discernible. The addition of Hislop’s bass adds further sonic depth to the performance, creeping in and out of songs with an effortless impact. But it is the twisted, wholly unique creativity of Lakatos’s lead guitar performance that completely strikes me into acceptance of this band’s excellence. Time and time again, the riffs that he produces commit me to the Smooth People cause.
As the band wraps up their set for the evening, I ask audience members what they thought of the show. My friend Louie, who has been bold enough to accompany me to two Smooth People gigs, has a music taste that generally revolves around mainstream hip hop and rock.
“It was insane. It’s not usually my music but that was a crazy environment, and the sound was awesome,” Louie tells me.
A middle-aged French man named Arnaud says, “this is better (than mainstream Perth music), it’s something closer to my musical background. I am from Paris, and we had something very similar to this in the early 2000s.”
Another audience member named Ella has been to several Smooth People gigs, you could say she’s something of an aficionado.
“The energy is very different… I think with indie rock bands, yes, their music is good, but it can sometimes sound a bit too structured, they need to be having more fun out there. Smooth People are enjoying the ride, and I prefer this. I think it’s good to have something different, to try something different,” says Ella.
Leah Grant, who mixes the audio for gigs at The Bird, is adamant that indie music has oversaturated the Perth scene.
On the topic of Smooth People, Leah is respectfully honest, saying, “I’m glad they’re doing it, but I think they have a way to go in aligning what they are expressing with the actual sound of everything. We are getting the energy, we are getting the idea, but it could sound better.”
I find it telling that even Grant, who was critical of Smooth People’s performance, still believes that their presence in the Perth music scene is “really cool”.
Energy and improvisation
The No Wave influence
Pioneers of the No Wave movement, James Chance and the Contortions. Kate Simon
When I went to the band’s third gig at the Seasonal Brewing Co, Smooth People tapped into an immense energy that results in several mic stands being thrown to the floor, followed quickly by Budworth himself.
“The level of darkness within our songs is very much a spur in the moment thing, it goes up in the air at the start of every performance. The gig at Seasonals (Brewing Co) was definitely a darker one, the energy I was feeling then was more so chaotic than free, I really felt that energy when we were performing. I think it's the nature of a lot of the improvisational aspects of our music,” Budworth says.
Smooth People’s place within the Perth music scene is emblematic of the original No Wave movement of the 1970s. The No Wave movement was an experimental and confrontational multimodal avant-garde scene based in late 1970s New York City. Coined as a pun rejecting commercial "New Wave" music, it featured harsh, abrasive sounds, and a nihilistic worldview, drawing from avant-jazz and improvisation while deconstructing traditional rock structures.
The No Wave movement is one of the cornerstone countercultures of the 20th century. The nature of this movement directly aligns with what Smooth People are doing in the contemporary Perth scene.
“We harp on about places like Indi Bar for being the indie band factory that pushes out bands into commercial states. I think what we are doing is an aggressive response to that whether we like it or not.” Rowe says.
Why is counterculture important?
Rob Grant, a successful music producer who has worked with acts such as Spacey Jane and Tame Impala is adamant regarding the vitality of counterculture.
“Without input from different cultures or counter cultures, the evolution of music would be stagnant and probably even self-destroying… It (music) would lose one of its fundamental purposes in a society; reflecting and expressing different concepts of the human condition.” Grant says.
Smooth People are a coalition of passionate artists who are brave enough to express themselves in a way that may raise a few eyebrows. They aren’t making music to impress anyone; they are making music because it is what they love to do. It is a staple of GenZ to vehemently fear being judged or perceived as weird, but ultimately a lot of the greatest and most engaging art throughout history is made through a lens of completely “weird” self-expression.
“I mean, go back to the Beatles. In 1963 when The Beatles came along, they were a complete anomaly. We now know them as the most iconic band of all time, but back then it was Elvis and Frank Sinatra, the Beatles were completely different. They wrote their own songs and played their own instruments, which no one else did,” says Divola.
“I think all culture eats itself and spits itself back out. Everything is derivative. Even with our style, we fall victim to it sometimes. When you follow the formula of things you fall into the mainstream culture… That's why people like it; it's an easy recipe for success.” Rowe says.
There is no doubt that there are many solid Perth indie bands that make good music, but as Budworth puts it, “I think we would just like to see more bands and more artists that are really weird and really unique. I think that is the essence of our countering mainstream music.”
Music producer Rob Grant pictured in the recording room of Poonshead studio. forevaart_music
Johnny Lakatos feeling the groove at Seasonal's. Toby Cann
What is now considered the gold standard of popular music, The Beatles remain a pertinent example of pushing the boundaries. Michael Cooper
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